Well, it’s recipe time, and here is one that I have butchered up from several to make a very good lasagna. Schedule lots of time for this one!

To make the sausage:

· 2 pounds lean pork roast

· 1 ½ tbsp sage

· ½ tsp oregano

· ½ tsp salt

· ½ tsp ground black pepper

Cut the pork into strips about ¾” by ¾”. Trim as much fat as you can from the meat. Run the pork through a meat grinder. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. (I have a kitchen-aid appliance with the grinder attachment. I use it, letting the ground pork fall into the mixer’s bowl. Use the mixer with the beater attachment to mix the spice into the pork. Easier, and spreads the spices evenly.) Cook the sausage, making sure it gets broken up into fairly small pieces. You might need to add a tablespoon or two of olive oil while cooking as the sausage will be pretty lean.

To make the sauce:

· 2 cans (15 oz) finely diced tomatoes (or one 29 oz can)

· 1 can (15 oz) finely diced tomatoes, Italian style

· 2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce

· 1 onion, finely chopped

· 2 cloves minced garlic

· 2 tsp basil

· 2 tsp parsley

· ½ tsp oregano

· 1 tsp sugar

Add all of these ingredients to the sausage and mix well. Simmer for 30 minutes then cool for an hour.

To make the cheese mixture:

· 12 oz ricotta cheese

· ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

· 1 tsp parsley

Mix these up thoroughly and set aside for the assembly of the lasagna

Remaining ingredients:

· 12 lasagna noodles

· 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

· 1 tsp parsley

Cook the noodles using the directions on the package. Drain and spread over paper towels to cool and absorb excess moisture.

Assembling the lasagna:

You will need a deep 9×13 pan. I have a stoneware one that works very well for this. The layers may be done differently, but this seems to work well.

· Spread 1/3 of the meat sauce mixture on the bottom of the pan

· Cover with 4 noodles

· Spread ½ of the cheese mixture evenly over the noodles

· Sprinkle a very light layer of mozzarella over the cheese mixture

· Spread another 1/3 of the meat sauce

· Cover with mozzarella cheese

· Lay down another 4 noodles

· Spread remaining cheese mixture over the noodles

· Spread remaining meat sauce

· Cover with mozzarella cheese

· Add the remaining noodles

· Top with mozzarella cheese and garnish very lightly with parsley flakes

Cover well and refrigerate overnight

To bake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure cover is not touching the cheese on the top of the lasagna. Bake for 80 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an addition 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese starts to turn golden brown. Internal temperature should be above 140 degrees. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Mmmmmm….good!

This entry was posted
on Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Recipes.
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